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she was right. She hated that she was right about the rest of the year following in the footsteps of last year. She tried to tell her self that she was being overly dramatic. But when Harry asked to have a word with her on Sunday morning, interrupting her hair session with Lavender, she knew something had to have gone terribly wrong the night before at his detention with Professor Lockhart.

He interrupted something Lavender was doing, which just highlighted the sincerity of what Saffron felt like she was about to hear.

"Can't it wait?" Lavender looked up from the plaits she had made out of Saffron's hair and offered Harry a scathing expression. "We're in the middle of something,"

"Um," Harry gave Saffron a look that suggested that he needed her to bail him out of giving an excuse.

With a small sigh, Saffron turned to Lavender and said: "I promised I'd talk to Harry about his detention with Professor Lockhart last night," Saffron looked up at Harry who had thrown a glare in her direction. She bit her lip, as he was right, that was a terrible excuse. "I mean he promised me he'd talk to me about it,"

Amending her excuse actually seemed to work, as Lavender obliged by letting Saffron's hair roam free of what contained it. On the condition, though, that Saffron tell her everything later on that night. Saffron let out a small laugh when Lavender whispered that into her ear and thanked her appreciatively before leaving with Harry.

"Did he say something to you?" Saffron asked Harry, as the pair wandered around the corridors of Hogwarts aimlessly. Well, the walk was aimless, but the conversation was bound to have a very clearly defined point, which Harry would unveil to her eventually. When Harry didn't say anything at first, she persisted. "Did he make you do something you didn't feel good about doing?"

"Yes, the whole thing was awful," said Harry, with a tentative but noticeably forced grin. "I . . .well, I don't think it's anything major,"

"Then it must be something major," Saffron joked with him. "Anything with you seems to be major,"

Harry shook his head bracingly. "I don't know, but I just wanted to get your take on it. Well, when I was in that detention with Lockhart, I heard . . . I heard a voice,"

"A voice?" repeated Saffron blankly. Harry couldn't be much vaguer. "Couldn't it just have been Lockhart?"

"No," Harry shook his head profusely this time. He sounded confident in his answer. "No, and it wasn't mine either. It was saying the most awful things, about killing and hurting," At that Saffron's eyes all but bulged out of her sockets, but she tried to remain calm and to hear Harry out. "I can't remember what else it said, but anyway, I asked Lockhart if he heard it, and he said he didn't,"

"Maybe he was lying," suggested Saffron, her heart rate increased as she digested the information. It was true, everything with Harry seemed to be major, majorly dangerous and of course, after last year, that tradition had to continue.

"That's what Ron said, but . . . but I don't think so, I think it was only me,"

"And that was the only time you heard the voice?" Saffron asked him.

"Yes," Harry nodded. "Just that one time,"

"Then . . ." Saffron spoke slowly, treading carefully around the subject, as she knew Harry could often be sensitive when it came to what may or may not have been true about him. "Do you think that maybe the voice was just something you made up?"

Harry didn't answer her, so Saffron continued briskly so as to get her point across fully.

"Think about it, you must have been exhausted. Especially with Lockhart there, who wouldn't be. Maybe you were just more tired than you thought, and that's why you heard the voice. Maybe it's that simple,"

"Yeah," Harry bit his lip, unconvinced. Saffron didn't blame him as she too was unconvinced. "Maybe," There was a pause, a pause that Harry broke by saying: "Hey, Saffron,"

"Um-hum," responded Saffron attentively.

"Could you not tell Hermione about this? There was a hint of desperation in his voice. "She always gets so worried about certain things, she might tell me to go to Madam Pomfrey which isn't. . . I don't need to go to her,"

"Don't worry," Saffron sent a reassuring smile in his direction. "Your secrets safe with me,"

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It was fair to say that almost every second-year student had a love/hate relationship with Astronomy. Additionally, most would say that they hated it. In the case of the Gryffindor contingency, it was always a struggle. Having to follow to dismal ghost Lottie Langweil up to the Astronomy tower, albeit at a slightly earlier time of ten o'clock this year, wasn't anything that any of them wanted to do. Even if they liked the subject, it was hard to enjoy it at such an hour.

Saffron felt like this for the most part. But she had an incentive in Astronomy that nobody else had, as she was sandwiched in between Olly Jowett and Padma Patil. This seating arrangement ensured there was seldom a dull moment in the class for her, as they were probably the closest thing she had to friends outside of her own house, excluding her siblings. She enjoyed their company in Astronomy. As in Astronomy, they weren't with Terry Boot or Lisa Turpin, who didn't seem to like Saffron very much, or at least that was how Saffron saw it.

The other incentive was that it provided a plethora of amusing Lavender moments. Even though they were one year into their school programme, Lavender still hadn't accepted that Astronomy was at such an inconvenient time for them.

"I don't understand how you can just walk out of here with a smile, Saff"

Lavender had her usual blanket wrapped around her and an arm locked in one of Parvati and Saffron's arms respectively. She was almost using them as her own personal walking stick to escort her to class and to help her use her feet properly.

"Everything is easier with a smile," Saffron remarked, exchanging a humorous glance with Parvati.

"Don't make me want to vomit more than the thought of Astronomy already does," responded Lavender coldly. "I might not show it but I'm cringing right now,"

"Oh, don't worry," laughed Parvati with her eyebrows raised. "You're showing it,"

"I guess it's just that I actually have interesting people to talk to," continued Saffron fairly. "Makes it fun, you know?"

"Sitting beside my sister is fun?" scoffed Parvati, rolling her eyes. "You're the first person to ever say that,"

"Maybe there's more than just your sister," All of a sudden, the tone of Lavender's voice changed drastically. It was bright, bubbly and textbook Lavender. Boys seemed to have that impact on her. "I think you must have enjoyed Olly falling on you too much last year, Saff,"

Saffron rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time she had been teased about Olly from her friends. It seemed that because they didn't see each other too often that it had to be more than a friendship which was completely untrue. Saffron considered Olly to be a friend, just like Harry and Ron were. After Rowan, Harry and Ron would be where Olly ranked in her male friends, followed by Dean and Neville thereafter.

"Yes, I love getting hit in the face with a telescope," deadpanned Saffron sarcastically. "I loved that way too much,"

"Oh, you know what she means," replied Parvati with a giggle. "Maybe it's more than friends between the two of you,"

Saffron shook her head determinedly. "No, it isn't, he's my friend, that's it,"

They had reached the top of the Astronomy tower where they Ravenclaws were bound to be waiting for them inside. Once there, they walked through to the open area, where their telescopes and beanbags alike were situated. Professor Sinistra greeted them warmly but on top of that, Saffron was greeted by a bright smile and profuse wave from Olly.

Parvati and Lavender shared a gleeful glance and snorted. Followed by a fit of giggles, they said:

"If you say so,"

Saffron sighed and made her way over to her beanbag.